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Teletext R Podcast, 22 November 2020 – We’re all going on a Ceefax Holiday

As soon as the medium of teletext started offering package vacations in the 1980s, the Ceefax Holidays legend was born. ‘Ceefax Holidays’ soon became a generic term for holidays advertised on any teletext service. Package holidays to Magaluf, weekend breaks on the English Riviera, cruises around the Mediterranean… wherever you wanted to go, Ceefax Hols could get you there for low, low prices.

Because the human brain is suggestible, the Ceefax Holidays snowball continues to roll down the steep incline that is the Internet, fuelled by speculation and a silly April Fools’ joke that got out of hand. Or did it…?

On today’s studio episode of Teletext R, Dan and Carl explore the Ceefax Holidays phenomenon in greater detail, analysing the societal and psychological impact of this teletext legend.

Note: Ceefax Holidays is certainly not to be confused with T******* Holidays.

Direct download: Teletext R Podcast 22-11-2020 – Ceefax Holidays (98mb)
Listen to this episode on iTunes
Listen on Retro Unlim here.

Timecodes

3:00 Welcome to Ceefax Holidays!
7:44 Viewdata ‘holidays’
11:30 The teletext Holidays Faxback service (Read by Leila Johnstone)
14:30 Travel section artwork – mini-interview with Steve Horsley @Horsenburger
21:00 The Cult of Ceefax Holidays – false memories?
38:50 Ceefax Holidays on BBC Radio Essex (not clickbait)
40:45 We’re all going on a Ceefax Holiday!

Links

Thank you to Leila Johnstone (@finalbullet) for contributing the Holiday Fax audio.
Cogblog – False Memories
We Hate Ceefax Holidays
The Ceefax Holidays Twitter account

Teletext R iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/teletextr/id1445105820 
RSS Feed
: https://www.retrounlim.com/series/teletextr/feed/
Teletext Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/TeletextGroup/
Gopodder: https://gpodder.net/podcast/series-teletextr
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/teletextr
http://twitter.com/that_other_carl
http://twitter.com/illarterate

Written By

Teletext artist and head mad scientist at the UK Teletext Art Research Lab (TARL). | hello [at] teletextart (dot) co *dot* uk | danfarrimond.co.uk

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. matthew ruth

    December 30, 2023 at 2:02 pm

    Just for info – I sold on Teletext for a company called Instant Holidays – I had a Bargains of the Day page and initially we loaded the deals manually or sent a list of deals to Teletext to update(Not Ceefax as you correctly state) – later on they introduced HOD which was a way of loading multiple deals but by this time they were on a website

    • Dan Farrimond

      January 4, 2024 at 6:17 pm

      Hey Matthew! Lovely to hear from someone who actually worked with Teletext Holidays! 😀

      Did you work with Graham Lovelace at all? He mentioned Teletext Holidays on a recent podcast. Apparently he pitched a switch to the Internet as early as ’96, eventually leading to the online-based system you mentioned. Very forward-thinking!

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